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Every day we hear a fresh rumor about some cool, cutting-edge feature Apple might pack into the upcoming iPhone 14, but I have yet to hear about the one that matters to me: expandable storage.

This occurred to me after reading up on the specs of the new OnePlus Nord N20 5G, a pleasant, mid-range 6.43-inch Android 11 (🤦‍♂️) handset that promises decent performance. And with a 48MP main camera, it should have solid photography chops. It ships with 128GB of storage, which is not bad, considering budget and entry-level smartphones (looking at you, Apple) sometimes ship with just 64.

But here's the kicker: the $282 Nord N20 5G includes a micro-SD storage slot that lets you upgrade the onboard storage to up to 512GB. Assuming I don't get scammed on Amazon, I can buy a 256GB SanDisk microSD card for $35.

For Android phones, this is nothing new. They've long included slots for storage upgrades. In fact, the BlackBerry Torch I recently fiddled with to salvage decade-old photos put its storage slot right on top of the SIM slot.

In recent years, though, Android manufacturers - even Samsung - have moved away from the personal upgradeability paradigm, sealing phones and their batteries while removing open, external slots.

Part of this makes sense, as most modern smartphones are now ip67- or ip68-rated for submersion in up to 3 feet of water for 30 minutes. That can be tough to do if the back isn't fused to the phone's body.

Yet I can't think of a smartphone that doesn't have a sim slot, and it is conceivable that part of that space could be used to house space for the microSD card, as well.

If there's any company that can and should figure this out, it's Apple.

I've never understood the Cupertino tech giant's storage stinginess. Sure, you can buy an iPhone 13 Pro with 1TB of storage packed into it, but it'll cost you $1,499. There is no way to buy the $999 iPhone 13 Pro and add in a 512GB microSD card for $63.

If you're on a budget and choose a new iPhone SE, you could start with the paltry 64GB model (and to be clear, no one should be buying smartphones with that little storage space) for $429 or upgrade to the 256GB model for $579. So you pay $150 more for 192GB. But that 256GB microSD card still costs just $35.

At the very least, Apple could take its next iPhone SE and iPhone 14 base model and include an SD-Card slot somewhere on the body, giving budget-conscious buyers the option of more storage without laying out so much money upfront.

Android devices that included microSD card slots often let you choose to store photos and other files on the removable storage. Now imagine that on an iPhone where, instead of constantly filling up that free 5GB of iCloud storage and making the brutal decision of which photos to delete, you could just keep buying new, cheap micro-SD cards and keep your photos stored locally.

This is one way to go, though I still recommend that everyone run Google Photos (or Amazon Photos) on their iPhone and let it automatically backup all your photos.

If Apple really wants to move the needle on the iPhone 14 and, perhaps, surprise a few competitors, it'll add a removable storage option. It would be the first time in a while Apple would truly recognize the budget conscious. It would also open up the glory that is the iPhone to people who thought they couldn't afford the apex of handset design.

It'll also give them enough room to store all the photos and videos they capture with what we expect will be an awesome new camera system.

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Intel’s neuromorphic Loihi chips could end up in future CPUs though they might also be available as a cloud service.

After being in development for the past several years, we now have a better idea regarding several potential commercial use cases for Intel’s Loihi neuromorphic chips.

Unlike the traditional chips found in other Intel processors, neuromorphic chips mimic the neurons of the human brain and due to their pin-like structure, these chips use far less energy as they only consume electricity when contributing data.

When Intel first released its Loihi chips back in 2017, the chipmaker pitched them as a way to handle AI tasks faster using far less energy than traditional chips. More recently though, researchers at Sandia National Laboratories in the US found that Loihi could be the future of high-performance computing (HPC) as Intel’s neuromorphic chips have the potential to make HPC more energy efficient, environmentally friendly and affordable.

According to a recent roundtable with journalists reported on by The Register, we now have a bit more insight into how Intel plans to offer Loihi as a commercial product to both consumers and businesses.

Loihi’s future

While speaking with journalists, Intel Labs' lead Rich Uhlig explained that the company could integrate Loihi into its future CPUs to perform AI tasks more efficiently though the chip giant may also make its neuromorphic chips available as a cloud service.

Uhlig stressed that Intel doesn’t yet have firm plans regarding Loihi’s future but at this point the company thinks it’s onto something. Now it’s just a matter of figuring out how to offer its neuromorphic chips to customers in a way which benefits them and allows the company to monetize the years it spent on researching and developing Loihi.

Read More

> The next world-beating supercomputer may run on chips that mimic the human brain

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Intel Labs, which developed Loihi, is also now in a better place to begin trying to incorporate Loihi’s technology into its products after being moved under Intel’s Software and Advanced Technology Group. According to Uhlig, this allows Intel Labs to take its software-oriented innovations to the group which is responsible for identifying new software revenue opportunities.

Although we don’t yet know exactly how Intel will make Loihi available to consumers and businesses, the next version of the company’s neuromorphic chip will increase its chip scale from 128k neurons per chip to up to one million with large scale systems that combine multiple chips on a board.

• Tackle even the most demanding computing tasks with one of the best workstations

Via The Register

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Verizon Named in New Ookla Report as the Fastest Broadband Provider in the US - CNET

The speed testing company's first report of 2022 keeps Verizon in the top spot with the fastest median download speeds among major internet providers.

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DuckDuckGo users were recently unable to find links to The Pirate Bay and other popular torrenting sites in the company’s search engine.

While initially it seemed that the company deindexed a number of domains used for illegally downloading movies, TV shows and even YouTube videos, it turns out that technical issues led to the glitch instead.

Share your thoughts on Cybersecurity and get a free copy of the Hacker's Manual 2022. Help us find how businesses are preparing for the post-Covid world and the implications of these activities on their cybersecurity plans. Enter your email at the end of this survey to get the bookazine, worth $10.99/£10.99.

First launched in 2008, DuckDuckGo is an alternative search engine that aims to better cater to the needs of privacy-conscious internet users that don’t want their search data ending up in the hands of Google or other large tech giants. The company has since expanded its operations and it now offers its own browser in addition to a search engine.

This isn’t the first time that DuckDuckGo has dealt with the issue of pirating as back in 2018, the company removed around 2,000 search shortcuts for pirate sites called “bangs” for The Pirate Bay, 1337x and RARBG. Although these bangs were removed, DuckDuckGo stressed that the sites themselves still showed up in its search results.

Not a DuckDuckGo issue

After TorrentFreak published its initial report on the matter, a DuckDuckGo spokesperson reached out to the news outlet to inform them that no pirate domains were removed from its search engine according to the company’s records.

This appears to be true as you can now search for The Pirate Bay, 1337x, RARBG and other popular torrenting sites and they show up in DuckDuckGo’s search results.

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In a tweet, DuckDuckGo founder and CEO Gabriel Weinberg explained that the issue was caused by the company’s site operator and not be it delisting pirate domains in its search results, saying:

“We are not "purging" YouTube-dl or The Pirate Bay and they both have actually been continuously available in our results if you search for them by name (which most people do). Our site: operator (which hardly anyone uses) is having issues which we are looking into.”

While DuckDuckGo is a privacy-focused search engine, it actually uses data from Bing for its search results. A DuckDuckGo spokesperson confirmed to TorrentFreak that the issues its search engine recently experienced were related to Bing data.

Although you can now once again search for popular torrenting sites on DuckDuckGo, downloading movies, TV shows, games and other software isn’t just illegal but you also run the risk of having your system infected with malware and other viruses.

• Protect your privacy online on any search engine with one of the best VPN services

Via TorrentFreak

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Panic Playdate Review: Crank-Enabled Handheld Indie Magic video - CNET

The weirdest little yellow gaming handheld we've ever seen is also a joyous box of microgames. It's a lot of fun to play.

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Twitter's approach to editable tweets is starting to make sense.

Two weeks after announcing that Editable Tweets were coming to the social platform, the beta code is starting to pop up for some users - though most of it doesn't appear functional.

Even so, we're learning about two crucial aspects of the long-hoped-for feature.

First, there is how Twitter will manage edited Tweets. According to tech blogger Jane Manchun Wong, Twitter may not let you directly edit and republish a tweet and might, instead, create a new tweet with a new ID and then keep a record of the previous tweet along with it in a list. In other words, we won't be directly editing Tweets but creating versions.

When I asked Wong how she surmised this, she told me that she was "seeing this in the code, and describing the approach based on it".

If this turns out the be the case, it's probably the best and most historically accurate approach in that no one can simply edit a tweet and act as if the original tweet didn't happen (unless they delete it).

Looks like Twitter’s approach to Edit Tweet is immutable, as in, instead of mutating the Tweet text within the same Tweet (same ID), it re-creates a new Tweet with the amended content, along with the list of the old Tweets prior of that editApril 16, 2022

See more

The second tidbit of information also comes from Twitter and shows that the Edit option is starting to appear, sporadically, on some accounts. For 9to5Google contributor Dylan Roussel, it showed up in the list of options under each tweet's ellipses. 

As you might expect, the option has the words "Edit Tweet" next to a pencil icon (would a big eraser have been more appropriate?). However, despite the icon appearing, the feature still doesn't work. To date, no one at TechRadar has seen similar beta features pop up in their Twitter apps and Web interfaces.

Uh oh! 👀@Twitter's edit button can already be enabled. It doesn't work yet, but I'll keep an eye on it! pic.twitter.com/7hyCAxsSymApril 16, 2022

See more

Twitter promised to start testing the feature with Twitter Blue members, i.e. those paying for Twitter's new $3.49 a month premium service. It's unclear how many people are actually paying for that and it would be fair to worry that the beta test could be incredibly limited.

Still, it is exciting to see Twitter take the first steps toward editable tweets, a feature enhancement loyal Twitter users have been talking about and asking for well over a decade. It's also comforting to know that Twitter is taking a measured approach to changing the timeline, by not truly allowing people to simply alter history, but maybe restate it while keeping the record intact.

• All of this is taking place against the backdrop of a pitched effort by Billionaire Elon Musk (and definitive Tweet Editor proponent) to acquire all of Twitter. What does that all mean?

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I frequently peruse our lists of the best Android apps and best iPhone apps, trying to find new additions to my phone to play around with, but rarely do they bring such a big change to my life as Too Good To Go has.

I first heard about this app in lockdown, but when you hear me describe what it does, you'll realize why I didn't use it much when stuck indoors. However, someone recently re-introduced it to me, and I can't believe I was missing out all the time.

Too Good To Go lets me combine three of my favorite things: saving money, helping the planet, and eating loads of really nice food – and I'd recommend you check it out too.

• Download it here: App Store | Play Store

What is Too Good To Go?

Too Good To Go, according to its website, is an app that aims to help reduce food waste. 

You use the app to find local and eligible stores, cafes, restaurants and similar businesses. Each one will offer you certain time windows – some will have lunch rush slots just after lunch, and some will have dinner rush ones in the late evening, for example.

You'll pay a small amount of money via the app, and will show up at the store at the respective window – then, you'll receive a goody bag depending on what you ordered. You might receive some leftover lunch items from a cafe if you ordered the lunch option, for example.

(Image credit: Too Good To Go)

Why it's great

'So... you're just buying food deliveries?' I know what you're thinking. Well, not quite – on Too Good To Go, you'll usually pay between a quarter and a third of what the food is actually worth.

Why is it so cheap? Well, that's because this is food that the outlet won't be able to sell for much longer – maybe it's at its sell-by date, or the internal rules of the place require them to only sell food prepared that day.

This doesn't mean you're getting gone-off food – it'll still be fresh. But, for example, if you pick up a 10pm bag just before the store closes, it has to get rid of the food that evening, because in the morning it won't be fit to be sold. Most shops would otherwise throw it away – but thanks to Too Good To Go, you can get it for a really low price.

I often pick up bags from my local Starbucks near closing time – I get four or five items for the price you'd normally pay for just one, and it's often a nice mix between toasted sandwiches, pastries, and sweet foods like muffins or brownies.

But different restaurants, cafes and shops near me have different windows, so if I'm going to be too early or late for Starbucks, I could head for a different place instead. It's lovely and versatile – I live right by a popular commuter train station, which has countless options.

(Image credit: Too Good To Go)

You're sometimes given the choice to filter by dietary requirements – I'm vegetarian, so this is really useful, though it does limit the selection somewhat. But I've often found that, even if I don't opt for a veggie bag (when the option isn't there), I'm frequently asked about dietary requirements anyway, so snag veggie food without having to book it.

Saving money

You could make the very real argument that picking up bags of cheap Starbucks muffins isn't 'saving money', since I wouldn't be buying them from the shop on a normal day. So I'm still spending more cash than on an average day, just not so much.

However, Too Good To Go also covers grocery stores, and it's here that I've saved loads of cash.

There are a few corner stores and grocery shops near me that let me book bags of random groceries that are soon to go off - recently, for just £3, I got £20 worth of food including loads of fresh vegetables, hummus, pasta and more. I got a few good meals out of this.

(I'm using UK currency and figures for this article, because I'm based there – but rest assured, the app is available in other places around the world, including the US).

(Image credit: Future)

As a human being, I do eat groceries, so getting them incredibly cheap was amazing. Sure, the food was on the verge of going off – but since I made sure to cook with it in the next few days, and gave some away to my flatmates, nothing went to waste.

I've also used Too Good To Go when eating out with friends – some 'street food' restaurants (basically classier fast food) let you pick up dishes at certain times, and I snagged two burritos for £6 when I was grabbing a bite with a friend. If I was paying full price, that'd be about £18-£20. Nice!

It's really easy to use Too Good To Go to find these places too, since the app lets you play with loads of filters. You can view places on a map, filter by the type of food (groceries, meals, snacks), view by the availability windows so you can arrange for when you're free – it's great.

Too great, perhaps – I've now become obsessed with the app.

Saving the planet

Sure, Too Good To Go is great for my wallet, and also for my taste buds, but as the brand's website says, its main purpose is to help the planet.

That's because food waste is a big problem around the world – we produce too much food that doesn't get eaten. According to Friends of the Earth, a third of the food that's produced globally is either lost or wasted which, when you think about it, is a bafflingly huge figure.

(Image credit: Too Good To Go)

This figure includes, apparently, 240,000 tonnes of food wasted by UK supermarkets each year – that, according to some quick maths, is the same weight as about 60,000 Asian elephants (though I don't think we sell those in supermarkets in the UK).

Obviously, this is something that Too Good To Go helps with – if you're saving some cheap groceries from the landfill site, you're actively stopping food waste.

Not only will that be less food getting dumped in a big pit, clogging up our lovely planet, but you're sending the message to the food industry that you care about the food waste issue.

There are some smaller benefits that I've discovered: when I did that aforementioned grocery shop, I got loads of nice fresh ingredients that encouraged me to cook a dish to incorporate them all. This made me more experimental with my food (making the weirdest, but most interesting, lasagne I've ever concocted), and had me eating healthier, which is obviously also great for the body and the planet.

Plus, I've been frequenting independent businesses a lot more, usually just to pick up cheap food, but it's encouraged me to go back even when I'm not using the app.

As a member of TechRadar's phone team, I download apps all the time, but I rarely feel compelled to write long articles about them. However, Too Good To Go has inspired me with its mission to save the planet, and save money – and it really doesn't hurt that I get to eat loads of nice food when doing so, too. 

• I used to think I was too old for TikTok, but now I'm using it for wedding ideas

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Farewell, Swabs? How a New COVID Breath Test Gives Results in 3 Minutes - CNET

A newly authorized breathalyzer test examines exhalations to quickly detect the presence of COVID-19. Learn how it works.

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The Best Sci-Fi TV Shows on HBO Max - CNET

HBO Max has a quality collection of hidden gems, prestige dramas and excellent international offerings.

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Best Cheap Earbuds and Headphones - CNET

Looking for a set of inexpensive headphones? Here are some of the best budget models worth considering.

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Netflix: The 47 Absolute Best TV Shows to Watch - CNET

Catch psychological thriller Anatomy of a Scandal, starring Sienna Miller and Rupert Friend.

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Galaxy A02S, A03S, A12 Review: Samsung's Under-$200 Phones Do More Than I Thought - CNET

Samsung's budget A-series phones nail the essentials, but you'll want to add a microSD card.

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Please Don't Charge More for HBO Max, Warner Bros. Discovery - CNET

Commentary: WarnerMedia and Discovery have merged, and it may affect what we spend on streaming services.

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'Choose or Die' Review: A Mostly Watchable 'Bandersnatch' Copy - CNET

This Netflix horror featuring a cursed video game has enough going for it to keep you playing on.

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'Outer Range' Review: Surprisingly Odd, But Worth Sticking With - CNET

This addictive sci-fi Western starring Josh Brolin should be the next hit to fill the void.

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